3 Answers
3

When the first season of "Gilligan's Island" was released on DVD in 2004, it included a short documentary called "Before the Three Hour Tour." That piece featured materials from Sherwood Schwarz's first attempt to put the show together that indicated Gilligan's full name was to be: "Willy Gilligan." Schwarz purposely dropped that from the finished product. So, in the official "Gilligan's Island" universe, we never know.

-1 if I understand your answer correctly. Just because something was part of the "original plan", if it was dropped from the finished product then it isn't a part of that product. I mean, it's a nice piece of trivia, but starting with "No, there is no reference with Gilligan's name, as it was purposely kept unspecified" and then continuing with this answer sounds a lot more sensible. Or just keeping it at "No" and quoting Wikipedia as a source which also backs this up in the first sentence.
– David MulderJun 10 at 7:53

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And, as stated above, his name is purposely omitted in the finished product. Just saying "no" is not much of an answer.
– Scotty ParkerJun 10 at 9:00

Was his name given in the movie? I can't 100% recall because I've not seen it in over 20 years, but if feels like it might have been mentioned.
– RLHJun 11 at 1:18

This might be improved by a title saying something like "Name was officially dropped." It's easy to read this as saying "Willy" is the answer, rather than just the name that was cut before production.
– trlklyJun 12 at 12:53

Gilligan being the fist mate, would make sense that “Gilligan “ is his last name. Navy personal are always called by their last name. Thus “Willy Gilligan” makes more sense than “Gilligan Whitehead”.
– Ken GrahamJun 18 at 0:57

At the end of A Very Brady Sequel, a movie based on The Brady Bunch characters also created by Sherwood Schwartz, Carol Brady reveals that her first husband was a professor lost on a boat. Dr. Whitehead, played by John Hillerman, says, "and my son Gilligan was first mate on that boat."

@AzorAhai tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod (Beware TV Tropes!) "A statement regarding some ambiguous or undefined aspect of a work, the Word of God comes from someone considered to be the ultimate authority, such as the creator, director, or producer." Sherwood Schwartz was the Producer of both GI and The Brady Bunch.
– RonJohnJun 10 at 22:52

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Yeah, I know what "Word of God" is, but that's definitely a confusing way to write it! haha
– Azor AhaiJun 10 at 22:56

I don't think you can count a movie made 30 years after the fact to be the source for anything official.
– Johnny BonesJun 13 at 20:03

@JohnnyBones it was written (or at least approved) by God in the form of Sherwood Schwartz. That's IMO more authoritative than a scrapped pilot.
– RonJohnJun 13 at 20:07

Bob Denver is the name of the actor who played Gilligan. Gilligan's actual full name is listed in the very same FAQ, two questions down (see "What are Skipper's and Professor's real names, and Gilligan's last name?")
– F1KrazyJun 12 at 11:12